One of these theories is the Choice Theory. According to the text book, Criminal Justice in Action, Choice Theory is when criminals weigh the benefits of the crime they want to commit to the tragic costs. If in the end the if the criminals benefits over weigh the costs he or she is more likely to commit the crime (pg.31). Most crimes are committed because of the rewards that come along with it. The rewards can involve money or even a sense of gratification according to sociologist Jack Katz in the text book Criminal Justice in action when said “’rewards’ of crime may be sensual as well as financial.
Despite this, Positivists see official crime statistics as a reliable indicator of crime patterns. Positivists seek the causes of crime and over time can compare social groups and look for patterns in crime. The groups that are most likely to be convicted are young males, some ethnic minorities, inner city dwellers and working class. As not all crime is reported however, the statistics do not give a true picture. (Hallam et al.
Jasmin Finnie Sep 6, 2010 White Collar Crimes Professor . Kellam When it comes to criminal justice, the term "White Collar Crime" is brought up very often. What exactly is a White Collar Crime? White-collar crime is defined in terms of attitudes toward those who commit it. These crimes are punishable by law, however it is generally regarded by the courts and by sections of the general public as much less reprehensible than crimes usually punished by the courts.
Assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems. Illustrate your response with sociological arguments and evidence. To assess the usefulness of official statistics to our understanding of social problems, I will first look at what official statistics are, I will then look at crime and suicide as two examples of social problems. I will look at how both Positivists and Interpretativists use these statistics and how useful each of these sociological approaches find them. Official statistics is the name given to the numbers of crimes reported to or unveiled by the police themselves, which lead to a conviction, caution or are dealt with in some formal way by the law.
The British Crime Survey also includes crimes which are not reported to the police, therefore is an important alternative to police records and provides criminologists, the police, the courts, the media and anyone else who has an interest with the statistics, two different types of data: Firstly trends on crime over time chartered, Details are compiled from offenders who are eventually found guilty or cautioned; details gathered include sex and the age of the offender. Information is gathered on the “Known offender”, in this case the “Typical offender”, (Maguire 1997). Official crime
Statistics are usually collected on based on three categories: Offenses, the breach of law; Offenders, those who commit the offenses; and the victims, the ones who are offended against. The United States has programs in which they collect this data; the first is the Uniform Crime Reports, which is compiled by the FBI and the Crime Victimization Survey, handled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Crime statistics for the same crime can vary based on not just between countries and jurisdictions, but also between individual law enforcement officers that have come across the same exact case. There are some crimes that are reported to law enforcement but are not reported because the law enforcement officer that takes the report has the power of discretion. They have the ability to affect how much crime is recorded, based on how they record their activities.
Also, without the inclusion of rehabilitation programs offered in 2008 with their successes and failures, the reader sees only part of the “big picture”. It would be interesting to know the percentage of recidivism for delinquents attending these programs, such as anger management and violence prevention classes while incarcerated or not. By including data concerning available rehab programs, the reader, whether law enforcement or the private citizen, can gain knowledge about the rehabilitation this country offers and the degree of success. The article indicates that juvenile arrests, as a whole, were fewer in 2008 than in 2007. Burglary arrests were slightly higher 2007 and 2008, but remained markedly less than in the 90’s.
The criminal profiler creates a psychological profile or picture of a suspect based on what he/she knows about motivation, mental illness, and also human behavior. The best place to begin getting an idea of a criminal's mind is often at the scene of a crime. Investigators pay particular attention to the things done at the scene or to the victim and also to the things not done. These observations can lead to a behavioral profile of the yet unknown suspect. Once the behavioral profile is done, the profiler can then compare this to other criminals or mental patients with the same basic characteristics.
Opportunity theorists reject the notion that criminals are pushed and pulled into criminal behavior. Rather, these theorists assert that criminal offenders are consciously thinking individuals who actively choose to partake in criminal activities in their everyday normal lives. Opportunity theorists seek to explain why criminals choose to commit a crime in one situation and not another. This perspective is what they call an “opportunity theory” Opportunity theories wager that no crime would be committed unless there was an open and present opportunity to commit the criminal act. One approach that opportunity theorists seek in preventing crime is what is known as the routine activity theory.
The reasons are complex but easy to understand. My recommendation is that the government should focus more on fighting poverty since its most likely the easiest way to lower crime rates. Why Poverty leads to Crime: Along with the evolution of human beings, the development of crime has been developing. For almost 3000 years we commit crimes and consider certain places or cities a breeding point for criminal activities. But why do we commit crime and why are the crime rates in certain places like Compton, East St. Louis or Detroit so high?